St. Vladimir's Seminary,575 Scarsdale Road,10707,Yonkers,NY,US
On Sunday, December 3, at 7 p.m., the St. Vladimir’s Seminary Chorale will take listeners on a musical spiritual journey by presenting a concert titled, “Psalms, Hymns & Spiritual Songs.” The event, to be performed in Three Hierarchs Chapel on the seminary campus, will commemorate the 100th anniversary of the election and enthronement of Patriarch Tikhon of Moscow. The program will include music of the Orthodox Christian Church, selected from the daily and festal liturgical cycles.
A select mixed choir led by Robin Freeman, director of Music at the seminary, will be performing some pieces taken from a forthcoming SVS Press CD titled, “Every Day Will I Bless Thee,” as well as some traditional hymns. Listen to the “Hymn to the Theotokos” from the CD, below:
The chorale previously performed this same concert in October at Holy Trinity Orthodox Church in Danbury, CT, to a sold-out crowd.
"We are thrilled to have another chance to perform this program, this time in the very heart of our campus,” said Director Freeman. “It will be a joyful evening!"
Tickets prices are: Adults $15 ($20 at the door); Seniors $10 ($15 at the door); Children & Young Adults, up to age 18, free. Proceeds will benefit the Three Hierarchs Chapel Renovation Project. A reception will follow the concert.
Dr. Scott Kenworthy St Vladimir's Orthodox Theological Seminary,575 Scarsdale Road,10707,Yonkers,NY,US
The 35th Annual Father Alexander Schmemann lecture will focus on the centenary anniversary of the enthronement of St. Tikhon, Patriarch of Moscow. Dr. Scott Kenworthy, seminary alumnus (M.A. ’96) and associate professor of Comparative Religion at Miami University, Ohio, will be our guest lecturer. The title of his address is: “St. Tikhon of Moscow (1865–1925) and the Orthodox Church in North America and Revolutionary Russia.” The lecture will be part of an Academic Convocation that includes the Commencement Ceremony for graduating Doctor of Ministry (D.Min.) students. The graduating students, who comprise the Cohort of 2017, are the first group ever to have been enrolled in the hybrid D.Min. model, which includes both online courses and on-campus classroom intensives. (View a full listing of the names of Cohort of 2017 and the titles of their final D.Min. project titles, here.)
Dr. Kenworthy came to Miami in 2001 as a post-doctoral fellow with the Havighurst Center, receiving his Ph.D. in History from Brandeis University during the first year of the fellowship. His research interests focus on the history and thought of Eastern Orthodox Christianity, particularly in modern Russia.
Dr. Kenworthy’s first book was The Heart of Russia: Trinity-Sergius, Monasticism and Society after 1825 (Oxford University Press, 2010), which won the 2010 Frank S. and Elizabeth D. Brewer Prize of the American Society of Church History. Currently, he is writing a biography of Tikhon Bellavin (1865–1925), who became patriarch of the Russian Orthodox Church at the time of the Bolshevik Revolution. He is also working on a book on the controversy on the Name of God in early 20th-century Russia and Mt. Athos.
Dr. Kenworthy was a Senior Fulbright Scholar in Romania, where he taught in the Faculties of Orthodox Theology at the University of Babes-Bolyai in Cluj-Napoca and the University of Bucharest. He has also had fellowships with the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation, the Kennan Institute (Woodrow Wilson Center), the International Research and Exchanges Board, and the Social Science Research Council.
The free and public lecture will be held Tuesday, January 30, 2018, at 7 p.m. in the Metropolitan Philip Auditorium of The John G. Rangos Family Building. A public reception will follow.
In September, a new poll from NBC News and The Wall Street Journal reported that 7-in-10 Americans viewed race relations in the United States as “poor.” The poll revealed that 28% of the public, including 24% of white and 40% of black Americans, stated that race relations are “very bad,” with another 42 percent of all respondents calling them "fairly bad.”
Heartbreaking news.
But here at St. Vladimir’s a new student interest group is addressing the problem: the St. Moses the Black Society endeavors to foster meaningful conversation on race in the Orthodox Church today and to introduce the Orthodox Christian faith to black communities in America. The society, which began to take shape Spring Semester 2017, now officially takes its place alongside four other student-led interest groups, all under the umbrella of our Student Council.
The president of the newly organized society is Anthony Davis, a seminarian in the Orthodox Church in America, Diocese of the South, and the faculty advisor is Professor Peter C. Bouteneff. Comprising the society are 10 students, among them three African-American seminarians and three African seminarians.
Seminarian Davis revealed upcoming plans for the budding society.
“First of all,” he said, “I led our initial meeting focused around the scriptural verse, Matthew 28:18–20, in which Jesus directs his disciples to go forth to all other nations, baptizing them and teaching them. I reminded society members that we are supposed to reach out not only to people who look like ourselves; we’re supposed to reach out to everyone.
“Second, we’re going to build our ministry on prayer, especially prayer to some of the African saints,” he noted. “We hope to schedule Akathist services to ask intercession of holy fathers and mothers like St. Moses the Black and St. Mary of Egypt.
“Third,” he explained, “we hope to minister in facilities like Emmaus House of Harlem, rubbing shoulders with people from black communities, and introducing them to the Orthodox faith.”
The society takes its inspiration from the Brotherhood of St. Moses the Black, a national pan-Orthodox organization that desires to make the Orthodox faith available to the African American community and to help the broader Church in realizing this goal. In fact, several members of the St. Moses Society participated in the Brotherhood’s 24th Annual Conference held October 6–8, 2017, in Princeton, NJ, which was titled, “Growing Closer to Christ, Growing Closer Together,”. Seminary Board of Trustee member, Carla Ann Newbern Thomas, M.D., spearheaded and organized that national conference, and seminary president, Fr. Chad Hatfield, led the seminary community contingent. (Read related story, which includes photo of St. Vladimir’s attendees.)
“We’re ‘mission minded’ here at St. Vladimir’s,” says Archpriest Chad Hatfield, seminary president, “and that becomes most evident during each annual “Missions Weekend” held on our campus.
“This year, visiting speakers Metropolitan Ambrosios of the Orthodox Metropolis of Korea and Nathan Hoppe of Albania presented riveting accounts about their respective mission fields,” he noted.
“Additionally, SVS Press has just launched its Orthodoxy & Missions series, with the newly released title Into All the World: An Orthodox Theology of Mission, by Fr. Edward Rommen,” he continued, “and, as series editor, I look forward to several exciting volumes to follow.” (Order the book here.)
Missions Weekend was sponsored by a student-led interest group at St. Vladimir’s, the “St. Innocent Society,” under the umbrella of the Student Council. The president of the society is 3rd-year Seminarian Dn. Christopher Moore, and Fr. Chad is the faculty sponsor. Both are experienced as missionaries: Dn. Christopher and his wife Jennifer were formerly missionaries in Mongolia, and Fr. Chad and his family served as missionaries in South Africa during the period of apartheid. Missions Weekend is also made possible by the Missions Institute of Orthodox Christianity at Hellenic College Holy Cross; Fr. Chad serves on the Board of that institute.
"Missions Weekend 2017 went extremely well!,” remarked Dn. Christopher. “It was a joy reconnecting with His Eminence Metropolitan Ambrosios, whom my family had spent time with and learned from while living in Seoul for three weeks, back in January 2015.
“Moreover, Nathan Hoppe, a friend and fellow OCMC missionary,” he explained, “helped us get practical with the missionary call that Metropolitan Ambrosios put forward by asking: ‘What next? How are we individually and communally going to properly respond to the inherent call that all Christians receive from Christ at their baptism to "Go forth and make disciples of all nations”?’”
“The combination of lectures gave us food for reflection and action,” he concluded, “and I think the St. Innocent Society will have much to dialogue about in response to these talks, so I thank our esteemed and experienced lecturers and all others who made Missions Weekend 2017 a success!"
Seminary alumnus Pdn. Keith Russin reposed in the Lord on Thursday, October 26, 2017. Protodeacon Keith attended St. Vladimir’s Seminary from 1968 to 1971, and graduated with the Master of Divinity degree. He was assigned to Holy Resurrection Cathedral in Wilkes-Barre, PA (Orthodox Church in America) for many years, and he retired from serving only a few years ago. He also owned and operated the Simon S. Russin Funeral Home in Plains, PA. He was attached in retirement to the Monastery Church of Saint Tikhon of Zadonsk, South Canaan, PA.
Protodeacon Keith’s M.Div. thesis at St. Vladimir’s was a study on Father Alexis Toth, now canonized, and he published an article based on his thesis titled, "Father Alexis G. Toth and the Wilkes-Barre Litigations" in St. Vladimir's Theological Quarterly (vol. 16, no. 3 [1972]: 128–149). He used to humorously say that his thesis and article “made the case” for Father Alexis to be recognized as a saint.
He also enjoyed a career as a librarian in Connecticut before taking over his family's funeral home business. Additionally, Pdn. Keith wrote a "Guide of the Holy Resurrection Cathedral" which details the architecture and history of the parish and is available in the seminary library: (https://svots.waldo.kohalibrary.com/app/work/54955).
Protodeacon Keith is the cousin of Harrison Russin, a Dean’s Fellow and Lecturer in Liturgical Music at the Seminary.
Memory Eternal!
The Funeral Service will be celebrated at Holy Resurrection Cathedral, Wilkes-Barre, PA at 7:00 p.m. on Wednesday, November 1. The Divine Liturgy will be celebrated at the cathedral at 10:00 a.m. on Thursday, November 2. Interment will follow at Fern Knoll Burial Park, Dallas, PA.
Our alumnus, the Very Reverend George Rados, pastor emeritus of Ss. Peter and Paul Orthodox Church in Potomac, MD, fell asleep in the Lord on Sunday evening, October 15, 2017. Father George was a member of the graduating Class of 1961.
Counted among Father George’s accomplishments during his long tenure at Ss. Peter and Paul was the creation of a temple that is architecturally and artistically inspiring. In 2011 the Potomac Patch published an article about the luminous iconography created by Leonidas Diamantopoulos, for which Fr. George had arranged, and about the decade-long architectural endeavor that Fr. George had completed during his time as rector. (Read “A Potomac Priest’s Labor of Love.) In that same article, Fr. George was quoted as saying, “I always wanted to be in a profession that helped people—certain intimacy with priesthood and people. Absolutely fulfilling.”
For his work as a loving pastor and insightful overseer of Christ’s flock, our seminary community is grateful, and we commend our Father in Christ to the Almighty God, as we mourn the loss of his presence from our midst.
His funeral will be held at Ss. Peter and Paul Antiochian Orthodox Church, 10620 River Road, in Potomac Maryland, on Monday and Tuesday, October 23–24. His Grace Bishop ALEXANDER will preside.
The schedule of services is as follows:
Monday, October 23
1:00pm – 6:00pm Wake
7:00pm The Funeral Service (for a Priest)
Tuesday, October 24
10:00am Divine Liturgy, Followed by the Funeral Service
Seven members of our seminary community, including President Archpriest Chad Hatfield and Trustee Carla Ann Newbern Thomas, M.D., recently participated in the 24th Annual Ancient Christianity Conference of the Brotherhood of St. Moses the Black, a Pan-Orthodox organization which endeavors to make the Orthodox faith available to the African American community. The theme of the conference, which was held October 6–8, 2017, in the Mother of God Joy of All Who Sorrow Orthodox Church, Princeton, NJ, was “Closer to Christ, Closer to Each Other.”
His Eminence the Most Reverend Michael, archbishop of New York and the Diocese of New York and New Jersey, Orthodox Church in America, gave the keynote at the gathering, which attracted more than 100 participants. His Grace the Right Reverend Thomas, bishop of the Diocese of Charleston, Oakland, and the Mid-Atlantic, Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of America, was among the other speakers. (See the Brotherhood’s website for a detailed schedule of the conference.)
Four of our seminarians sat on the “Young Orthodox Preacher’s Panel”: 2nd-year students Anthony Davis and Dn. Simon Menya, and 1st-year students Loveday Okafor and Fr. Chrysostom Onyekakeyah. Father Chad gave a presentation on the newly established St. Cyprian of Carthage fund, which supports African students at St. Vladimir’s, as well as news about the budding relationship between the Seminary and the Patriarch of Alexandria. Dr. Thompson was the organizer and coordinator of the conference. Additionally, Bettye Malone, a long-time member of Three Hierarchs Chapel on the seminary campus, attended the gathering.
Several videos of the lectures given at the conference may be found on the Facebook page of the Brotherhood of St Moses the Black.
Khouria will both meet with our campus women’s group, the St. Juliana Society, in a private group setting, and speak to the broader seminary community in an open presentation Sunday evening, October 15, 6 p.m., on the topic: "Orthodox Christian Aesthetics: Facets and Features.” We also welcome those outside the seminary community who have an interest in liturgical vesture and aesthetics to attend the open informal campus talk.
Hundreds of friends and alumni attended our annual open house, Orthodox Education Day, which this year had the timely theme, “Modern Martyrs: Christians of the Middle East and North Africa.” Explicating the theme in an informative keynote address was the Reverend Dr. George Parsenios, associate professor of New Testament, Princeton Theological Seminary, and sessional professor of New Testament at St. Vladimir’s.
In his presentation titled, “Dying, and Behold, We Live: Martyrdom in the New Testament,” Fr. George focused on texts of St. Paul and the Gospel of St. John that connect suffering to being in Christ. Father George emphasized how the actions of both ancient and modern martyrs continue to teach us that “the meaning of life is death,” and that living the Resurrection requires carrying the Cross. He gave his presentation in front of an impressive and emotionally evocative photo wall that displayed images of newly martyred Christians in the Middle East and North Africa.
“It’s a great tragedy in contemporary Christianity,” Fr. George noted, “that so many people are taken away by the prosperity gospel in which they’re promised that God wants to put you in a mansion and make you happy and make you never suffer anything.
“It’s a great tragedy because when life brings its inevitable suffering, that faith falls apart,” he observed. “That faith can’t sustain you in the depths of life’s difficulties.
“But our faith begins in the pit of hell, when Christ descended into Hades and brings up all the dead,” he continued. “That’s where our faith begins, and when our faith begins there—when your faith begins in the pit of hell—you understand that the Light shines in the darkness, and so when the darkness comes, we know where the Light is. Only by understanding this, can we begin to contemplate that the meaning of life is death."
Several other activities connected to the day's theme included: two workshops, one led by seminary alumnus Father Abraham Wassef, speaking about recent slayings of Christians in North Africa and the resulting effects on Coptic parishes in North America, and another led by the nuns from All Saints Monastery, talking about their healing ministry for victims of human trafficking; a book signing by Dr. Christine Chaillot of her latest work, The Dialogue between Eastern Orthodox and Oriental Orthodox Churches; a kid-friendly activity area led by Matushka Jenny Mosher, and teen talks and activities led by Fr. John Hopko; and liturgical services with special prayers for contemporary martyrs.
A select mixed choir led by Robin Freeman, who is the Director of Music at the Seminary, will be performing pieces taken from a forthcoming SVS Press CD titled, “Every Day Will I Bless Thee,” as well as some traditional hymns.
